13 Westworld Easter Eggs You Probably Missed

Freeze your motor functions. Reboot yourself. HBO’s popular show Westworld is packed with cryptic dialogues and intense action scenes, but there’s a deeper layer to discover. So grab your gear and get ready for some tunes on the player piano at the Mariposa Saloon because here are a few of the coolest Easter eggs you might have overlooked. Warning: Spoilers ahead!

1. LOST IN THE TIMELINES? WATCH OUT FOR THE LOGO.

Westworld makes it clear that the story takes place across multiple timelines, with characters popping in and out of different eras. If you’re confused about when things are happening, pay attention to the park’s distinctive “W” logo appearing in various shots. A retro, 1970s-style wordmark—like the one seen when Angela first shows William around in “Chestnut”—signals you’re looking at a past timeline.

If you notice a sleek, Apple-inspired “W,” like the one shown towards the end of the episode when Sizemore presents his new narrative, “Odyssey on Red River,” to the Delos executives, that’s a sign the story is set in the present day.

2. A QUICK APPEARANCE FROM THE ORIGINAL GUNSLINGER.

The Westworld series is based on the 1973 movie of the same name, written and directed by Michael Crichton. It follows a similar storyline of robots revolting against guests at a Wild West-themed amusement park. The villain of the film, “The Gunslinger,” with his signature robotic gait and black hat, is portrayed by actor Yul Brynner. While the series and the film don’t exist within the same narrative universe, Brynner’s iconic antagonist makes a brief cameo when Bernard explores the older part of the park in “The Adversary.”

Co-creator Jonathan Nolan discussed potential movie/show crossovers with Entertainment Weekly, stating, “We aimed to link back to the themes in the original film, while also exploring this place as a cultural institution that isn't exactly new, because the ideas themselves are timeless.”

3. DOLORES IS DESCENDING INTO THE RABBIT HOLE.

In addition to Dolores’s signature blue dress, blonde hair, and storyline involving her awakening in a bizarre world, there are several direct nods to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland throughout Westworld—and beyond.

In “The Stray,” Bernard asks Dolores to read a passage from the book during one of their consciousness sessions. She recites, “Dear, dear, how queer everything is today. And yesterday, things went on just as usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night.” But the enigma goes even deeper down the rabbit hole... or more specifically, the J.J. Abrams rabbit hole.

The exact same passage is found in Episode 10 of Season 4 of Abrams’s TV show, Lost, when Jack reads a bedtime story to Claire’s son.

4. ROBERT FORD AND ARNOLD ARE CLEARLY FANS OF CLAUDE DEBUSSY.

The so-called reveries, introduced first in “The Original,” are a collection of memories and actions supposedly programmed by Ford and his partner Arnold as part of a regular host update. However, they end up triggering the hosts to recall their previous loops.

They could have used a different name for them—one less poetic than the French term that loosely translates to daydream—but it’s clear that Ford and Arnold’s admiration for French composer Claude Debussy had to be reflected in their work.

We first hear Debussy’s piece “Reverie” in “The Stray,” when a pianist host performs the track during a private conversation between Ford and Bernard in the park’s executive office. Ford later uses the same song to soothe Maeve in “Trace Decay”—perhaps hinting that he did the same with Bernard earlier, as we eventually learn Bernard is, in fact, a robotic version of Arnold.

5. BIOSHOCK FANS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO PAY ATTENTION.

It’s widely known that the park operates much like an open-world video game, allowing players to roam freely and dive into a multitude of subplots and situations. Given that, it’s no surprise that the creators Nolan and Lisa Joy drew inspiration from iconic open-world games like BioShock when designing the various real-world adventures for guests in the show.

The influence of the popular first-person shooter is so strong that a bust of Sander Cohen, a character from the game, makes an appearance in Ford’s office during “The Stray.”

During a Westworld panel at New York Comic-Con, Nolan shared: “I was [with] Ken Levine, the creator of those games, discussing the non-player characters—specifically Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite. I had just gone through a scene, shot everyone, and moved on. And he was talking about the immense effort that went into crafting the dialogues and backstories for those characters, their dreams, and their desires. I thought, 'Isn’t that heartbreaking? Isn't it tragic? And the player just completely ignores it all. The bastards.'”

6. FELIX SPEAKS THE SAME LANGUAGE AS JOHN HAMMOND.

In “Contrapasso,” there’s a quick, blink-and-you-miss-it tribute to Michael Crichton’s other famous theme park disaster story, Jurassic Park.

In his free time, the bumbling yet endearing host repairman Felix secretly attempts to bring a malfunctioning robot bird back to life, aspiring to become the Westworld programmer he’s always wanted to be. When he finally manages to revive the robotic bird, he says some words of encouragement: "That’s it. Come on, little one." His words echo a line from Jurassic Park, where Robert Ford’s stand-in, John Hammond, speaks in a similar manner in a scene from Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film, based on Crichton’s book.

This likely won’t be the last Crichton/Spielberg reference in the series. In season two’s “Reunion,” host El Lazo (played by Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito) delivers a monologue about his dissatisfaction with his current situation, sharing a story about his childhood trip to the circus. It mirrors a similar tale told by John Hammond in Jurassic Park, where he reflects on the park’s failures by recounting his own childhood experience at the circus.

7. THE CHARACTER NAMES HAVE APOCALYPTIC ROOTS.

Given Ford’s grim view of humanity (this is the same guy who said, “Never place your trust in us. We’re only human. Inevitably, we will disappoint you”), if Westworld is leading up to some form of robot apocalypse, then the character names make perfect sense. It was all there in the names.

Some of the symbolism behind the character names in the series is quite literally apocalyptic. The melancholic cowboy Teddy Flood’s last name seems to reference the biblical flood of Noah’s ark. His apparent foe, Wyatt, is described by hosts as “a pestilence,” linking him to one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Bible. The outlaw Hector Escaton’s surname, which is a variant of eschaton, refers to the theological term for the end of the world.

8. THE CREATORS OF THE SERIES MUST HAVE BEEN SHAKESPEARE FANS IN SCHOOL.

For literature enthusiasts, particularly those who adore the Bard, watching Westworld must be a joy from the very first moment. In the closing scene of “The Original,” the malfunctioning host Peter Abernathy delivers a monologue that quotes from not one, but three different Shakespeare plays: King Lear, Henry IV, and The Tempest.

One of the most memorable lines spoken by several hosts (including Dolores and Peter) throughout the series is derived from Friar Lawrence’s famous quote in Romeo and Juliet, when they utter, “These violent delights have violent ends.”

One of the most chilling and poignant Shakespearean quotes occurs in “Trompe L’Oeil,” when Ford instructs the robotic Bernard to kill Theresa Cullen, the head of quality assurance. Ford paraphrases Hamlet’s famous line, saying, “For in that sleep, what dreams may come?”

9. LIKE MOZART, BEETHOVEN, AND CHOPIN, FORD IS IMMORTAL.

In the season one finale, “The Bicameral Mind,” Ford suggests that his story isn't over, even after Dolores kills him. During his monologue to the Delos board, he reflects, “An old friend once told me something that brought me great comfort. Something he had read. He said that Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin never died. They simply became music.”

Much like how those musical icons “became” their compositions, Ford returns in season two’s premiere, “Journey Into Night,” as a younger host version of himself who challenges the Man in Black to a fresh game in the park.

The Chopin reference is taken even further during a flashback at Jim Delos’s retirement party in “Reunion,” when Dolores plays Chopin’s “Sonata for Piano No. 2 in B-Flat Minor.” The old, hardened billionaire and Ford's adversary, Jim Delos, responds with, "Anything but f***in' Chopin."

10. ROBERT FORD MUST HAVE TAKEN PSYCHOLOGY.

One of the most abstract yet foundational ideas in season one of Westworld revolves around the theory of “The Bicameral Mind,” which Ford and Arnold use to help the hosts achieve consciousness. This theory proposes a three-tier pyramid where memory sits at the base, followed by improvisation and self-interest in the middle, and then a big, unresolved question mark at the top, because, as Ford reveals, Arnold never figured out what should go there. Perhaps this is the reason the hosts eventually spiral out of control.

The idea of the Bicameral Mind isn’t just fictional—it's based on a real concept. The theory originates from the 1976 book The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by psychologist Julian Jaynes. Jaynes suggested that humans only gained the ability to think independently when they realized that the voices they heard weren’t divine. Similarly, hosts like Dolores hear voices they believe belong to Arnold, only to later realize they’re hearing their own inner consciousness and become self-aware.

11. DR. FORD, OR DR. FRANKENSTEIN?

The resemblance between Ford and the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece Frankenstein is unmistakable: both are mad scientists who bring new life into the world, only for it to turn against them. It’s only fitting, then, that one of Ford’s sharp remarks is directly lifted from Shelley's novel.

During a conversation in “Trace Decay,” Bernard confronts Ford, questioning why he ordered Theresa's death. Ford explains that her death is insignificant in the grand scheme of his new narrative. He punctuates his response with a quote from Shelley: "One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire."

12. FORD PREFERS TO KEEP HIS FAVORITE HOSTS CLOSE.

Ford is nothing if not an eccentric genius. He's the kind of person who keeps a host in his office simply to play piano whenever he needs music while working on AI consciousness. But there are more familiar faces in his office than just the piano player.

If you look carefully behind Ford’s desk, you’ll spot a wall of faces. Though never explained, these are likely prototype versions of host faces created by the mysterious white goo that hardens into host skin. Two of those faces belong to Ford's favorite tragic robots: Dolores and Teddy.

13. MAEVE HAS ESCAPED HER LOOP... OR HAS SHE?

The gripping season one finale saw Maeve, now fully self-aware, team up with fellow hosts Hector and Armistice to take down park security and escape on the train to freedom. However, a revelation from Bernard suggests that Maeve may not have as much control over her fate as she believes.

After bringing Bernard back to life, he reveals to Maeve that her programming was altered to make her want to escape, recruit hosts, and leave via the train. Maeve, in denial of her lack of free will, insists, "These are my decisions, no one else’s," but Bernard’s device shows otherwise. The steps for her actions—"Recruit," "Escape," "Manipulate," and even "Mainland Infiltration"—are all pre-programmed. It seems Ford intended for Maeve to be 'free'—but on his terms, not hers.